The Bluesbox Collection

The three piece neck is hard rock maple with a mahogany strip down the center (I have since replaced these Kluson knock-off tuners with some silver Schaller knock offs. It has an ebony fingerboard and bridge.

When I first saw this guitar, the headstock shape seemed to indicate a "pre-war" vintage. It was hard to tell exactly because there is no Gretsch label or serial number and the guitar had been expertly refinished at some point (I would guess within the last ten years - I suspect that this guitar had a sunburst finish originally because the top and sides are not well matched in regard to their colors). The Gretsch logo is etched onto a abalone "banner" inlay. This inlay style was another indication of a "pre-war" vintage. The final piece to the puzzle fell into place when I ran across a picture of a 1930's Model 35 (a model that was only made from 1933 until 1938) - the match was exact in size, shape and appointments. The sound of this guitar, as I mentioned, is excellent. It has the distinctive archtop tone, and yet also has more bass then I am used to hearing in the average archtop. This is certainly one of my favorite acoustic axes.